'Imitation Game' and 'Men, Women and Children' lead tech-focused films of 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch leads the cast of "The Imitation Game", the story of Alan Turing and the computing pioneers who cracked enemy codes in World War II.
Jack English

Technology has changed almost every aspect of our lives, and it's changing film too. A selection of new movies appearing at the 2014 London Film Festival explore our relationship with technology, adding instant messages and status updates to the onscreen language of cinema.

The 58th LFF runs between Wednesday 8 October and Sunday 19 October in cinemas across the capital. The festival opens with the premiere of "The Imitation Game" as stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley walk the red carpet.

A number of films at the festival explore the crossover between technology, social media and relationships in our high-tech, smartphone-wielding, socially-saturated contemporary world. Director Jason Reitman introduces his film "Men, Women & Children" on Thursday 9 October. The film tells the story of modern relationships by integrating dialogue with emails, instant messages and Facebook posts that flash up on the screen.

Jason Reitman's "Men, Women and Children" integrates digital communication with traditional live action and dialogue.
Men, Women and Children

Meanwhile "10.000KM", directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, focuses on a Spanish couple forced into a long-distance relationship by economic circumstance and relying on communication via skype, social media and email to maintain their relationship. And "Blind", directed by Eskil Vogt, tells the story of Ingrid, who has recently lost her sight and relies on her laptop as her sole creative outlet and eventual confidante.

Two of the festival's entries look at the impact of the media on the legal system. "Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart", directed by Jeremiah Zagar, is a documentary examining the first fully-televised court case in the US in 1991. And "The Face Of An Angel" is loosely based on the real-life case of Amanda Knox and the media storm surrounding it. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, who also directed "The Trip" with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, the film follows a London-based director to northern Italy to work on a film based on the trial of an American student charged with the murder of her British housemate.

Another documentary, "Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait", follows exiled Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed as he tries to make sense of what's happening in the war zone that was his home via a daily bombardment of horrifying images on YouTube, before he is contacted by a young Syrian woman with a camera of her own.

Following the premiere, "The Imitation Game" is released in UK cinemas on 14 November and US theatres the following week. "Men, Women and Children" opens in selected US theatres on 3 October, and in the UK on 5 December.